Infographics aren’t just pretty pictures, they do have some valuable information to communicate to us. Now rather than just give you a list of infographics to gawk at, which I know you would enjoy, I thought we’d look at just what they have to teach us.

This one is particular caught my eye, The 5 Types of Social Followers Your Business Needs. Now social media fans can’t all be pigeon holed into only 5 categories, but these headings do make for a pretty comprehensive overview of the typical social media audience. However, every follower type does come with a word of warning.

Social Media Followers

1. The Early Adopter

They’ve been on Twitter longer than hashtags, they were the first to sign up to Google+ and they’ll be the first on the next social network also. They’ve got their finger on the pulse as to what’s up and coming and as a result they have a loyal following of like-minded, social media enthusiasts. A like or a share from them has a knock-on effect of dozens more like it.

Seeing as this user is always looking for the next big thing, to attract them you’ve got to be that big thing. This could be offering a fresh opinion on an ongoing discussion or aggregating this week’s top stories. Make yourself a valuable source of information and the early adopters will look to you for what’s coming next.

Word of Warning: Just because they’re first on the bandwagon, doesn’t mean it’s going in the right way. They may be early, but they’re not always right.

2. The Social Sharer

The backbone of social media, they’re the ones keeping the information train running. Sharing their favorite content across their multiple social networks. To have a number of this type of follower in your arsenal is invaluable as they give your content the traction it needs to take off online.

Attracting this user means producing attractive content. Making the most of popular topics and making sure you’ve got all your social media buttons ready and waiting. With this follower on your side the potential reach of your content grows exponentially, so encouraging your followerss to share with their friends is always going to work in your favor.

Word of Warning: Without proper credit given, it doesn’t matter if your content is being shared – how is anyone to know it’s yours?

3. Born Follower

So many of our decisions every day are based on what we have heard from other people in opinions and advice. This type of follower probably follows you because their friends do too, but they’re not just numbers – they have a lot of potential.

These followers can very easily evolve from being passive audience members to active consumers with the right push. Attracting them in the first place is relatively straightforward; including a Facebook Facepile widget for example gives them an idea of how many of their friends already like your business. Once they’re following you then you can work on turning them into a customer.

Word of Warning: Make sure they’re following you for the right reasons. There’s little sense in having hundreds of followers who don’t know what you do.

They don’t need brand awareness, they are brand awareness. They have the uncanny ability to attract likes, share and new followers just by posting a picture of their incorrectly spelled Starbucks order. If they so much as mention your company in passing, all of a sudden you receive an influx of new followers from their network.

Reaching out to this type of follower is best done on a one-to-one basis. They know the power of a share or a re-tweet, and so do you. This is the type of follower to build a relationship with as they can be of great benefit to your brand awareness.

Word of Warning: He knows good content, but he also knows bad content and is not afraid to shine a spotlight on either.

5. The Basement-Dwelling Hater

It’s Kevin Smith in Live Free or Die Hard. He’s a self-proclaimed vigilante of the Internet with his trusty keyboard as his weapon. Whether it’s a passive complaint on a blog or they actively seek you out on Twitter to make their grievance heard, their comments find their way to you eventually.

There’s no need to set out about attracting this type of follower because they will always find us at some point. They are in fact valuable though; the way you respond to their negative comments says a lot about your customer service and how you conduct your business. Who knows, maybe you can turn them from a hater to a loyal customer?

Word of Warning: Bad news spreads faster than good news. Hell hath no fury like a follower scorned…

So the next time you sit down to strategize your social media, maybe you ought to spend some time thinking about the types of followers you have and how they can form part of your social media marketing strategy.

I think I would be a social sharer – which type of social media follower are you?

Our whitepaper on Building Your Brand with Social Media shows you how to harness the power of social media and make the most of your followers.